This review may contain spoilers.
Forty years and nearly a dozen sequels later, the Halloween franchise has been given new life. The boogeyman returns to Haddonfield in this new slasher film, part nostalgia and part original.
The original Halloween was released in 1978. The film was directed and scored by horror movie veteran, John Carpenter.
The new film does an amazing job at furthering the lore of Michael Myers and building upon the final female character, Laurie Strode.
During the opening credits while the Halloween theme plays, we see a pumpkin being inflated. This is a re-creation of the pumpkin from the opening credits in the original film. The re-animation of the pumpkin goes to show that Michael’s business in Haddonfield is far from over.
After causing a bus crash, Michael escapes and returns to Haddonfield for a blood-soaked killing spree.
David Gordon Green’s Halloween works for me on all levels. I have been a fan of John Carpenter and the Halloween films for a long time. Green and screenwriters, Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley, paid respect to Carpenters vision while carving out an original story for themselves.
Bailey McGregor, a young aspiring filmmaker, was extremely happy with how the new Halloween movie came out.
“This is Carpenter on a budget,” McGregor said. “The budget was so low in 1978 that they didn’t have a costume for Michael Myers. They went out and bought a Star Trek mask, which they spray painted and aged for the movie.”
McGregor went on to say how much she appreciated the gore and brutality in this new installment. “They didn’t have gore in the old movie,” McGregor said. “David Gordon Green did an amazing job.”
Carpenter served as an executive producer on the film, as well as providing the soundtrack alongside his son, Cody Carpenter and godson, Daniel Davies. The score utilizes the old themes Carpenter composed for his Halloween movie and updates them for this new story.
Carpenter utilizes electric guitar, played by Daniel Davies, and pulse pounding synth sounds that create atmospheric scenes.
Jamie Lee Curtis’s character is portrayed as a victim with PTSD and a potential drinking problem. She states in the film that she has hoped and prayed for years Michael would escape so she could finally kill him.
Curtis’s character has an estranged daughter and granddaughter. She is referred to as grandmother by her granddaughter, Allyson, played by up-and-coming actress, Andi Matichak.
Matichak’s character is snarky and strong. She longs to connect with her grandmother and begs for her to forget about that brutal Halloween night all those years ago.
A scene that stands out for me is the sequence where the audience first sees Michael in the mental institution. He stands with his back to the camera and chains around his hands.
An overhead shot is seen of Michael and other patients standing on a checkerboard-painted courtyard.
Nick Castle, the original actor who played Michael Myers, makes a cameo appearance in the film. Michael Myers, or The Shape, is now played by stuntman James Jude Courtney.
Courtney is the perfect Michael Myers. He is the like the wind. He could be anywhere at anytime, swift and deadly. Part human and part supernatural.
As Officer Hawkins says in the film, “There’s a reason we’re supposed to be afraid of this night.”
A Michael Myers mask. Photo by Anthony Bubbico.
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